The 1956 United States Senate elections were elections for the United States Senate that coincided with the re-election of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The 32 seats of Class 3 were contested in regular elections, and three special elections were held to fill vacancies. Although Democrats gained two seats in regular elections, the Republicans gained two seats in special elections, leaving the party balance of the chamber unchanged.
Democrats defeated incumbents Herman Welker (R-Idaho), George H. Bender (R-Ohio), and James H. Duff (R-Pennsylvania), as well as winning a Republican-held seat in Colorado. Republicans defeated incumbent Earle C. Clements (D-Kentucky) as well as winning Democratic-held seats in Kentucky, New York, and West Virginia. Thus, this election caused Kentucky's Senate delegation to flip from two Democrats to two Republicans.
During the next Congress, Republican John D. Hoblitzell Jr. was appointed to the seat of deceased Senator Matthew M. Neely (D-WV), while Democrat William Proxmire won a special election for the seat of deceased Senator Joseph McCarthy (R-Wisconsin). Also, Democrat Ralph Yarborough won a special election for the seat of Price Daniel (D-Texas), who had resigned from the Senate after being elected Governor of Texas. The net result was to leave the party balance unchanged. Republicans would not win a Senate election in West Virginia again until 2014.
Results summary + ↓ 49 47 Democratic Republican
Colored shading indicates party with largest share of that row. Parties Total Democratic Republican Other Before these elections 49 47 0 96 Not up 31 30 — 61 11 20 — 31 20 10 — 30 Up 18 17 — 35 15 17 — 32 1 0 — 1 2 0 — 2 Incumbent retired 5 1 — 6 2 0 — 2 1 Republican replaced by 1 Democrat3 Democrats replaced by 3 Republicans — 4 3 3 0 6 Incumbent ran 13 16 — 29 12 13 — 25 3 Republicans replaced by 3 Democrats1 Democrat replaced by 1 Republican — 4 0 0 — 0 15 14 0 29 Total elected 18 17 0 35 Net change 0 Nationwide vote 23,291,351 22,219,450 406,207 45,917,008 Share 50.72% 48.39% 0.88% 100% Result 49 47 0 96
Source: Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives
Gains, losses, and holds Retirements One Republican and five Democrats retired instead of seeking re-election.
StateSenatorReplaced by Colorado Georgia Kentucky (special) New York South Carolina (special) West Virginia
Defeats Three Republicans and one Democrat sought re-election but lost in the general election.
StateSenatorReplaced by Idaho Kentucky Ohio Pennsylvania
Post-election changes One Republican was appointed to the seat of a deceased Democrat. Two Democrats won special elections, one seat was previously held by a Democrat and another by a Republican. One Democrat was appointed to replace another Democrat.
StateSenatorReplaced by North Carolina Texas West Virginia Wisconsin
Change in composition
Before the elections
D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D Majority → D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
Elections results D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D Majority → D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
Key D Democratic R Republican
Race summaries
Special elections during the 84th Congress In these special elections, the winners were seated during 1956 or in 1957 before January 3; ordered by election date, then state.
State Incumbent Results Candidates Senator Party Electoral history Kentucky(Class 2) Democratic 1956 Interim appointee retired.New senator elected November 6, 1956.Republican gain. South Carolina(Class 2) Democratic 1956 Interim appointee retired.New senator elected November 6, 1956.Democratic hold. West Virginia(Class 1) Democratic 1956 Interim appointee retired.New senator elected November 6, 1956.Republican gain.
Races leading to the 85th Congress In these regular elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning January 3, 1957; ordered by state.
All of the elections involved the Class 3 seats. State Incumbent Results Candidates Senator Party Electoral history Alabama Democratic 1938 193819441950 Incumbent re-elected. Arizona Democratic 19261932193819441950 Incumbent re-elected. Arkansas Democratic 19441950 Incumbent re-elected. California Republican 1953 1954 Incumbent re-elected. Colorado Republican 1941 1942 19441950 Incumbent retired.New senator elected.Democratic gain. Connecticut Republican 1952 Incumbent re-elected. Florida Democratic 1950 Incumbent re-elected. Georgia Democratic 1922 19261932193819441950 Incumbent retired.New senator elected.Democratic hold. Idaho Republican 1950 Incumbent lost re-election.New senator elected.Democratic gain. Illinois Republican 1950 Incumbent re-elected. Indiana Republican 19441950 Incumbent re-elected. Iowa Republican 19441950 Incumbent re-elected. Kansas Republican 1950 1950 Incumbent re-elected. Kentucky Democratic 1950 1950 Incumbent lost re-election.New senator elected.Republican gain. Louisiana Democratic 1948 1950 Incumbent re-elected. Maryland Republican 1950 Incumbent re-elected. Missouri Democratic 1950 Incumbent re-elected. Nevada Democratic 1954 Incumbent re-elected. New Hampshire Republican 1954 Incumbent re-elected. New York Democratic 1949 1950 Incumbent retired.New senator elected.Republican gain.Winner delayed term until January 9, 1957, when he resigned his post as an Attorney General of New York. North Carolina Democratic 1954 1954 Incumbent re-elected. North Dakota Republican 1945 1946 1950 Incumbent re-elected. Ohio Republican 1954 Incumbent lost re-election.New senator elected.Democratic gain. Oklahoma Democratic 1950 Incumbent re-elected. Oregon Democratic 19441950 Incumbent re-elected. Pennsylvania Republican 1950 Incumbent lost re-election.New senator elected.Democratic gain. South Carolina Democratic 19441950 Incumbent re-elected. South Dakota Republican 1950 Incumbent re-elected. Utah Republican 1950 Incumbent re-elected. Vermont Republican 1940 19441950 Incumbent re-elected. Washington Democratic 1944 19441950 Incumbent re-elected. Wisconsin Republican 193819441950 Incumbent re-elected.
Closest races Fifteen races had a margin of victory under 10%:
State Party of winner Margin Colorado Democratic (flip) 0.4% Pennsylvania Democratic (flip) 0.4% Kentucky Republican (flip) 0.8% South Dakota Republican 1.6% Nevada Democratic 5.2% Ohio Democratic 5.8% Maryland Republican 6.0% Kentucky (special) Republican (flip) 6.4% New York Republican (flip) 6.6% West Virginia (special) Republican (flip) 7.4% Iowa Republican 7.8% Utah Republican 8.0% California Republican 8.34% Illinois Republican 8.39% Oregon Democratic 8.4%
Alabama
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Florida
Georgia
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Two elections in Kentucky converted both seats from Democratic to Republican. As a result, this marked the first time since 1916 that both Senate seats in a state flipped from one party to the other in a single election cycle.
Kentucky (special)
Following the death of Alben Barkley on April 30, 1956, Robert Humphreys was appointed June 21, 1956 to continue the term, pending a special election. Humphreys did not run in the special election to finish the term that would end in 1961.
Republican former-senator John Sherman Cooper, who had twice won special elections to that seat in 1946 and 1952, was again elected to finish the term.
This time, however, Cooper would be re-elected in 1960 and again in 1966, serving until his 1973 retirement.
Kentucky (regular)
First-term Democrat Earle Clements lost re-election to Republican Thruston B. Morton, who was Eisenhower's Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs.
Louisiana
Maryland
Missouri
Nevada
New Hampshire
New York
In New York, the Republican state convention met on September 10 at Albany, New York, and nominated New York State Attorney General Jacob K. Javits. The Democratic state convention met on September 10 at Albany, New York, and nominated Mayor of New York City Robert F. Wagner Jr., for the U.S. Senate. The Liberal Party endorsed the Democratic nominee, Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr., for the U.S. Senate. On October 1, a movement was launched to vote for General of the Army Douglas MacArthur as a write-in candidate for the U.S. Senate. On October 2, MacArthur disavowed the campaign, and stated that he was not a candidate.
The Republican candidate was elected.
North Carolina
North Dakota
In North Dakota, the incumbent, Republican Milton Young, sought and received re-election to his third term, defeating North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party candidate Quentin N. Burdick, son of North Dakota congressman Usher L. Burdick.
Only Young filed as a Republican, and the endorsed Democratic candidate was Quentin Burdick, the son of well-known politician Usher Burdick, and former candidate for Governor of North Dakota. Young and Burdick won the primary elections for their respective parties.
One independent candidate, Arthur C. Townley, also filed before the deadline. Townley would later seek the state's other senate seat in 1958, and was known for creating the National Non-Partisan League.
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
In Oregon, Republican-turned-Independent-turned-Democrat Wayne Morse decided to seek re-election for his first full term as a Democrat. Morse defeated Republican candidate Douglas McKay in the hotly contested general election.
Pennsylvania
In Pennsylvania, incumbent Republican U.S. senator James H. Duff sought re-election to another term, but was defeated by the Democratic nominee, Joseph S. Clark Jr.
South Carolina
In South Carolina the regular election was held simultaneously with the special election.
South Carolina (regular)
Incumbent Democrat Olin D. Johnston handily defeated Republican mayor of Clemson Leon P. Crawford. Olin D. Johnston, the incumbent Senator, faced no opposition from South Carolina Democrats and avoided a primary election. Leon P. Crawford, the mayor of the town of Clemson in the Upstate, faced no opposition from South Carolina Republicans and avoided a primary election. Crawford campaigned as a defender of states' rights and denounced Johnston for backing the New Deal and the Fair Deal. The state Republican Party believed that Crawford could have a chance in the election if he galvanized the 128,000 registered black voters, although they were weary of being labeled as the black party. In the end, Johnston remained highly popular with the voters who were still leery of the Republican party and he easily defeated Crawford in the general election.
South Carolina (special)
The special election resulted from the resignation of Senator Strom Thurmond on April 4, 1956, who was keeping a campaign pledge he had made in the 1954 election. Thurmond was unopposed in his bid to complete the remaining four years of the term. Senator Strom Thurmond faced no opposition from South Carolina Democrats and avoided a primary election. There was a possibility that Governor George Bell Timmerman Jr. might enter the race, but Thurmond was held in such high regard by the voters that there would have been no chance of defeating Thurmond. With no challenge to the remainder of the term, Thurmond did not conduct a campaign and rejoined his old law firm in Aiken until he returned to the Senate after the general election.
South Dakota
Utah
Vermont
In Vermont, incumbent Republican George Aiken ran successfully for re-election to another term in the United States Senate, defeating Democratic challenger Bernard G. O'Shea.
Washington
West Virginia (special)